Please read these important notes before proceeding:

(We apologise that this is so long!)

When you apply for an account with Churches’ Mutual, we ask you provide information about yourself. This includes information about who you are, where you live, and who you bank with. This information is sent through our secure website to ‘CallCredit’ an external credit reference bureau who validates the information given and provides us with a report in order to satisfy identity checks and Anti-Money Laundering legislation.

Full details of how CMCU treats your personal information can be found on our Privacy Notice

If you are happy to provide Churches’ Mutual with information to use in this way and you have checked you are eligible to join please proceed to the account application page by pressing the ‘Click Here’ button below. If you are not willing to provide this information please contact us via the contact form on the Home page of this website but please be aware that we cannot open an account for you if we are unable to verify your identity.

Am I eligible to join?

To be eligible for membership of Churches’ Mutual Credit Union Ltd applicants must share a ‘common bond’ with existing members. Churches’ Mutual Credit Union Ltd offers individuals membership through association with the Anglican Churches of Great Britain, the Church of Scotland, the Methodist Church of Great Britain, the United Reformed Church, the Catholic Church in England & Wales and the Catholic Church in Scotland.

Please read the following statements carefully:

I am an elder, a lay or ordained minister or training for ministry in an Anglican Church in Great Britain, the Church of Scotland, the Methodist Church of Great Britain, the Catholic Church in England & Wales and the Catholic Church in Scotland or the United Reformed Church. (This category includes active or retired clergy and ministers, and elders of the Church of Scotland or the United Reformed Church).

I am an employee or trustee of a National, Regional or Local Church institution or office of the Anglican Churches of Great Britain the Church of Scotland, the Methodist Church of Great Britain, the Catholic Church in England & Wales and the Catholic Church in Scotland or the United Reformed Church.

I am an employee or trustee of a charity of the Anglican Churches of Great Britain, the United Reformed Church or of the Church of Scotland, the Catholic Church in England & Wales or the Catholic Church in Scotland (this includes Church Council members, and employees and trustees of church voluntary aided schools and academy trusts).

I am a household member of any of the above.

If you are able to answer YES to at least one of the above statements and once you have read the notes below:

If you cease to act as a trustee or employee at some point in the future you will be able to maintain your membership. The important thing is that you qualify at the point of joining CMCU.

Paying a Small Fee

Once you have completed the joining process you will be asked for a £10 debit card payment. £5 will be the joining fee (which is non-refundable) and £5 your initial deposit. Within two working days you will be contacted by email with more information on the next stage of account opening.

If you would like more information regarding the accounts, or if you are unsure if you qualify or you are a qualifying corporate entity please contact the credit union on admin@cmcu.org.uk

FAQ

Am I eligible to open an account?

As we are a Credit Union our Members have a “Common Bond”. Our Common Bond includes ordained and lay ministers, employees and office holders from the Anglican Churches of Britain, The Church of Scotland, the United Reformed Church, the Catholic Church in England & Wales, the Catholic Church in Scotland and the Methodist Church of Great Britain and charities and organisations associated with these churches. The list is extensive and if you are not certain if you qualify please contact us using the enquiry form on this website or telephone 01452500463

How is Churches’ Mutual Credit Union Ltd regulated?

Churches’ Mutual Credit Union is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. Reference number 654709

How is my money protected?

We are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), the current limits are up to £85,000 per person. Please click here for more information

How do I apply for an account?

Opening an account is easy. Visit the joining page on this website fill out the online form. Other than your personal information you will need your passport and/or driving licence and the sort code and account number of your personal UK bank or building society account. Then click on apply now and you’ll be ready to go. You will need to make a payment of £10 via the World Pay debit facility. £5 will be your initial deposit with the credit union and £5 is a non-refundable administration joining fee so please ensure you are eligible for membership before completing the form.

We will send you your Account Agreement and Terms and Conditions by email as part of this process and receive a copy of the signed agreement in the email for your own records.

Why do you need my bank account details, passport or driving licence?

The credit union has a responsibility to ensure that individuals who apply to open a credit union account are who they say they are, and that any monies deposited have not been obtained through illegal or fraudulent means or will be used for illegal purposes. The system the credit union uses to identify applicants uses the information held by the Passport Office, DVLA and UK banks therefore you need to provide details about yourself that can be matched to their records.

I do not have a passport, driver’s licence or bank account. Can I still join?

Unfortunately you are not able to join the credit union without at least one of these items. Your local Citizens’ Advice Bureau may be able to assist you in obtaining a basic bank account.

Do I receive interest on my account? What is a dividend?

Like many credit union’s CMCU pays a dividend on all its savings accounts rather than interest. The dividend is a ‘profit-share’ of the credit union’s surplus once all expenses have been met. CMCU’s financial year runs from 1st October to 30th September, the accounts and transactions are then audited and the trading surplus calculated. The Board of Directors (acting within the regulatory framework and taking advice from the auditors) are then able to recommend a dividend. This is taken to the Annual Meeting of Members which takes place in January and the dividend approved is paid into members’ accounts shortly after this.

Dividends are paid on the average daily balance of the account during the appropriate financial year. The amount of dividend varies depending on the type of account held and the amount of trading surplus achieved by CMCU in the previous financial year.

Do you Deduct Tax on the Dividend?

No. We pay the dividend gross at the end of our financial year and you have to pay any tax due, based on your circumstances yourself.

Can I open more than one account?

If you require more than one account please contact our membership team on 01452500463 or email us at admin@cmcu.org.uk. Please note that our current maximum savings per individual is £25,000.

Do you offer joint accounts?

CMCU does not offer joint accounts.

What account opening checks do you carry out?

As with all UK savings accounts, we check your identity and address before you open an account. To make this as easy as possible for you, we do this by checking a number of electronic databases. In a minority of cases we may sometimes need to ask you to send us some identification by post. If this is necessary we will tell you before you open an account. We also carry out a number of fraud checks when we open your account.

Do I need to give you my National Insurance number?

We ask for your National Insurance number for several reasons because it helps us to formally identify you; which we have to do under Anti-Money Laundering Legislation

Can I change my mind?

Savings – you may close you account at any time, providing you have not used your shares (savings) to guarantee a loan. Savings will be returned in full apart from the joining/administration fee of £5.00 which is non-refundable.

Loans – you may withdraw from a loan application at any time before the loan has been disbursed. However once you have received the funds you will need to ask for a settlement figure to close your loan account in order to cover any interest that may have accrued. There are no penalties for early settlement.

How do I pay money into my account?

There are a number of ways to pay into your credit union account:

If you are a paid employee of a church or church based organisation you should be able to pay into your account direct from your salary/stipend. A full list of Employers offering payroll deduction is here. Please download and complete a payroll deduction mandate form and forward it to us by email in addition to the application form.

If you are not a paid employee or your employer does not offer payroll deduction you will need to complete a direct debit mandate

Once your application for membership has been approved we will forward the payroll deduction form to your employer or in the case of the direct deduction form to your bank.

If you wish to make a one off deposit in the credit union please contact us using the link on this website

How do I view my balance?

You can view your account online anytime day or night seven days a week. You can register on the credit union’s members’ area using your unique membership number. You can also apply for loans and share withdrawals through the members’ area. Please Note: we do not send paper statements.

Can I make partial withdrawals money from my Premier Investment Account?

There are no penalties for withdrawals but if the balance on this account falls below £1995 for more than 30 consecutive days the account transfers to a Regular Savers’ Account. Withdrawals will only be made by BACS transfer into your nominated bank account.

Withdrawals will normally be credited to your account the next working day but may take up to five working days. At busy times (such as January and August) the Board may request up to sixty days’ notice from a Member of their intention to withdraw their shareholding. You will be notified in advance of the Credit Union implimenting this rule.

How do I set up my Online Access

Once you have received your Welcome Letter confirming your membership number you can register for online access to your account. Click on the Internet Banking tab on our website and follow the instruction ‘not yet an online user – sign up here’ complete the registration form. The credit union administration team will contact you to confirm your online access has been approved. Please note there may be a delay to us contacting you if you register out of office hours.

I've forgotten my Password - what do I do?

If you have forgotten your PIN or your Password you can ask for these to be reset via the login page. If you have forgotten both these you will need to contact us at admin@cmcu.org.uk and we will reset them for you. Please keep your password and PIN confidential. If someone uses it to access your account we might not be able to prevent fraudulent transactions on your account.

How do I make a complaint?

CMCU always strives to give members a quality service. If you have a complaint please first refer your complaint to the original point of contact. You may contact us though the form on this website, by telephone on 01452500463 or in writing to the address at the bottom of this page.

If we are unable to resolve your complaint, you will be given the opportunity to go through our complaints procedure. A copy of this procedure is available upon request. As a last resort if you are not happy with the response you receive you can refer your complaint to the Financial services Ombudsman.

How long do you keep my information?

CMCU has recently reviewed its Data Retention Policy in line with changes to legislation.

CMCU does need to hold information for various lengths of time depending on what we use the data for. In many cases we will hold this information for a period of time after the member leaves the credit union but this must be reasonable and clearly stated.

A summary of our policy for retaining members’ data is available here and a full copy is freely available upon request from admin@cmcu.org.uk.